Athens County Clerk of Courts - Redaction Policy

The following information is deemed "personal and private" and may not be included in a public record:

1. Social Security number;

2. Full financial account number (it may be listed as e.g. "----1234") and; 3. Any other information deemed personal and private by any federal or state statute, regulation, executive order or court ruling.

It is the responsibility of the filing party and counsel to remove personal and private information from a document filed with the Clerk of Court's office. The responsibility of the filing party and counsel to remove personal and private information extends to and includes exhibits or addenda attached to filing, such as preliminary and final judicial reports which itemized state tax liens that use Social Security numbers as case numbers or medical records.

The Clerk of Courts and deputy clerks shall have no responsibility for the removal of any personal and private information filed in a public document in the Athens County Clerk of Court's office.

Personal and private information must be submitted in a separate filing which will be deemed by the Court as a non-public record. The information will be kept in a separate envelope within the case file marked as follows:

The enclosed personal and private information has been deemed by the court as non-public. It is for the use of the court, attorneys of record listed in the case and Clerk of Court's office only. Any other person must have a court order to view the contents of this envelope. Violation of this order shall be contempt of court.

Journal entries that necessarily include personal and private information must be submitted to the Clerk of Court's office as follows: a copy that includes the personal and private information for placement in the non-public envelope and a copy with personal and private information redacted for placement in the public file. The copy not containing the personal and private information (for the public file) will have the notation "redacted" at all places in the document where such information was removed. The Court will sign both journal entries.

The Clerk of Courts will not remove any personal and private information from a stamp-filed document, including records or transcripts transmitted to this court from another court, without a court order to do so. The Clerk of Courts may refuse to accept for filing any document that contains personal and private information that has not been redacted or submitted in accordance with this order.

Any personal and private information in documents filed prior to the implementation of this rule is considered public. Any personal and private information in records or transcripts transmitted to this court from another court is considered public. A party or an attorney in a case, or any other person whose personal and private information is contained in a public record of this court may petition the court for removal of the personal and private information, and if the request is granted, the personal and private information will be removed from a stamp-filed document and placed in a separate envelope and deemed a non-public record. The petition shall contain the caption of the particular case.